Closure



June 9, 1964 L Ps 3,136,446

CLOSURE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 x @W 1; R 28 1 I i the closures of openings of said tanks or vessels.

erally, the closure elements for a vessel include a vent United States Patent 3,136,446 CLOSURE Richard E. Phiiiips, Baton Rouge, La., assignor to Ethyl New York, N.Y., a corporation of This invention relates to closures. More particularly, this invention relates to closure devicesfor tanks or transport vessels for chemical liquids which require particularly careful handling in loading, unloading and in transmission generally.

In the transport of various chemical commodities having appreciable vapor pressures or of a toxic nature, relatively complicated devices have heretofore been used for line, a liquid line, and a safety orpressure relief line. conventional apparatus, such as tanks found inrailway tank cars, or tanks of highway tank units, each of said lines or o enings to theinterior of the tank includes a conduit and a valve associated therewith. Such valves, being necessarily mounted externally of the tank periphery or boundary, project into the surrounding space, and in order to prevent these from suifering'damage in occasional accidents or even in the case ofroutine handling, they are positioned in a supplementalcharnber or shell so that randomblowscan not strike the closure elements proper.

'The vertical space occupied by these closurearrangements adds to the cost and overall space requirement for a tank unit, The use of valved openings, particularly for the liquid transfer (charging or discharging) opening, and for the vent opening, is sometimes superfluous, in that in practically all receiving installations,.provision is normally made for valved receiving conduits or venting conduitsfor matching up and connecting the said openings. Hence, in practice, in transport vessels fitted as outlined above, a dual valving system is, then, in fact in vogue. For large capacity tanks, or for tank units not necessarily intended for application in restricted modular space, the

Gen- I 3,i36,446 Patented June 9, 1964 flange or plate member to the tank opening.

In the above mentioned blind flange member, or base member, are at least two service openings in all forms of the invention, one of the service openings being an opening for liquid transfer and the other being an opening for vent or gas. For purposes of description, the opening for liquid is referred to herein as the first opening and the opening for gas is referred to as the second openingf It will be understood that other openings can be provided, and-in particular, openings forpressure relief, associated with pressure relief discs or other relief elements, can be also included in the apparatus and incorporated into the base. Attached to the base member at the first opening is a dip leg or conduit member for extending to the interior of the tank to be serviced or for which the closure apparatusis intended. A first blind flange closure is provided, with means for attaching to the base member and closing of the first opening. A second blind flange or closure element is provided for closing the second openingin the base member, and also 7 means for attaching the said member-to the base, for sefor, and barring the actuation of said closing means when the second closing means is itself in closed position.

, Referring to FIG. 1, a plan of a particular embodiment is shown. The base element 11 is a conventional blind flange member adapted forattachment by conventionalmeans to a corresponding flange member 12 associated-With the tank and providing an opening in the tank wall 13. Fastening members 14 are provided for securing the base flange element 11 to the tank wall flange 12. Provided in the base are the first opening or aperture 15 and the second opening 28. Aflixed to the base member 11 and communicating with the' second opening 28 is a dip leg conduit 29, extending to the interior of the tank space for direct communication with foregoing features are not highly disadvantageous, in that I,

the cost of the valving and the space of the closure assembly is not particularly detrimental. However, the wider use of small capacity vessels," for example, which are not integrally applied to any transportation vehicle, such as a railway car or a highway trailer, but are intended for mounting on skids or pallets, and handling as such, the previously available closure assemblies are highly bulky, costly, and detrimental.

The object of the present invention is to provide a low cost, highly efiective, andlow profile closure assembly for tanks or vessels for use in transport and/or storage of chemical commodities, especially liquids. More particularly, an object of the present invention is to provide a closure assembly readily adapted and used with liquid assembly of the like or base member for attachment and mounting on a large opening of a transport vessel or tank. Generally, such a flange member may correspond in gross dimensions to:

a conventional blind flange ,of the desired weightqseries for the service intended, and is attached to a flange memany liquid therein, The first opening 28 and the second opening 15 are respectively closed by first. andsecond, removable blind flange elements 39, 16. The design and construction of said flange closures or blind flanges can be conventional and usually will include tongues for mating with a corresponding gasket groove in the base 11.

' Threaded fastening means 31, 17 associated respectively with the first opening 23 and the blind flange closure therefor 30; and with the second opening 15 and the blind flange closure 16 therefor are provided.

Attached fixedly to the blind flange closure 16 for the,

vent aperture 15 is a transverse restraining apparatus protector or bar 18, which continues as or is attached to a cup guard 19, the dimensions thereof being such as to fully encompass the periphery of. the blind flange 30 func flange 1 1 both having a hole for insertion of a lock memher if desired.

The opposite extremity of the restraining .bar 18 pro jects beyond the periphery of theblind flange 16 and engages a hinge member22, attached to the base 11, by

means of a pin 23 affixed to the extremity of the bar 18, and movablypositioned in an elongated slot in the arms of the hinge member 22;. The proportions of the slot 24 are such'that, upon disengaging the fastening means'17,

, which position the second blind flange 16, that the entire assembly including the ,cup 19, bar 18, and blind flange her associated with a nozzle of the tank unit. Various 16L canb'e moved vertically to fullyfree the blind flange main flange 'or base member 11. Upon this disengage- Associated with the are no projecting studs. ting bar 18 can be hinged tothe base 11 by appropriate pin'means, without the necessity of any vertical slide ing positions at consuming locations.

Apertures 32 can be provided in the cup 19, and said apertures are sized to prevent access to the threaded fastening means which secure the blind flange 36 in place,

thus permitting visual inspection only.

The embodiment above described is, as noted, adapted for use when the fastening means, for securing the vent flange member in place, include studs permanently projecting from the base member. In other instances, when, for example, the fastening means are cap screws, there In such instances, the restrainmovement.

Having described my invention,what is claimed is:

1. Closure apparatus for liquid transport vessel, said apparatus including a base plate having service openings therein as hereinafter defined and adapted for covering a tank opening, said service openings including a first opening for liquid and a second or vent opening for gas, a dip leg conduit aflixed to the base plate and extending from -the liquid opening to communicate with the interior of the liquid of the transport vessel, a closure member for the first opening and a closure member for the vent opening, and separate means for attaching said closure members to 'the said base plate member, and restraining means associated with the closure member for the vent opening whereby the closure member for the liquid opening can not be removed until the closure member for the vent opening is removed.

2. Closure apparatus for a liquid transport or storage vessel, including a base plate or blind flange having service openings therein as hereinafter defined and adapted for covering a tank opening, said service openings including a first openingfor liquid and a second or vent opening for gas, a dip leg conduit aflixed to the base plate for projecting into the interior of the vessel from the first opening, a first blind flange closure for the first opening and threaded means for aifixing said first blind flange closure to the base plate, a second blindflange closure for the second opening and threaded fastening means for securing said flange closure to close said second opening, and restraining means attached to said second blind flange closure for preventing disengagement of the blind flange closure means for the first opening until the second blind flange closure means is entirely removed, said restraining means including a bar member attached to the second 'blind flange closure and extending toward the locus of the first opening, and having a cup surrounding and surmounting the'blind flange closure for the first opening, and a hinge means associated with said bar andlocated remotely from said cup, said hinge means including a pivot vertically slidable in a socket whereby release of the threaded fastening means affixing the second blind flange closure permits vertical movement of said restraining means to allow fully disengagement of the second blind flange closure from the threaded fastening means, and

the establishment of accessability of the first blind flange closure and the threaded fastening means therefor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mason Sept. 30, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 1,888,831 France Mar. l6, 1959 

2. CLOSURE APPARATUS FOR A LIQUID TRANSPORT OR STORAGE VESSEL, INCLUDING A BASE PLATE OR BLIND FLANGE HAVING SERVICE OPENINGS THEREIN AS HEREINAFTER DEFINED AND ADAPTED FOR COVERING A TANK OPENING, SAID SERVICE OPENINGS INCLUDING A FIRST OPENING FOR LIQUID AND A SECOND OR VENT OPENING FOR GAS, A DIP LEG CONDUIT AFFIXED TO THE BASE PLATE FOR PROJECTING INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE VESSEL FROM THE FIRST OPENING, A FIRST BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE FOR THE FIRST OPENING AND THREADED MEANS FOR AFFIXING SAID FIRST BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE TO THE BASE PLATE, A SECOND BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE FOR THE SECOND OPENING AND THREADED FASTENING MEANS FOR SECURING SAID FLANGE CLOSURE TO CLOSE SAID SECOND OPENING, AND RESTRAINING MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID SECOND BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE FOR PREVENTING DISENGAGEMENT OF THE BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE MEANS FOR THE FIRST OPENING UNTIL THE SECOND BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE MEANS IS ENTIRELY REMOVED, SAID RESTRAINING MEANS INCLUDING A BAR MEMBER ATTACHED TO THE SECOND BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE AND EXTENDING TOWARD THE LOCUS OF THE FIRST OPENING, AND HAVING A CUP SURROUNDING AND SURMOUNTING THE BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE FOR THE FIRST OPENING, AND A HINGE MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID BAR AND LOCATED REMOTELY FROM SAID CUP, SAID HINGE MEANS INCLUDING A PIVOT VERTICALLY SLIDABLE IN A SOCKET WHEREBY RELEASE OF THE THREADED FASTENING MEANS AFFIXING THE SECOND BLIND FLANGE. CLOSURE PERMITS VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID RESTRAINING MEANS TO ALLOW FULLY DISENGAGEMENT OF THE SECOND BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE FROM THE THREADED FASTENING MEANS, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCESSABILITY OF THE FIRST BLIND FLANGE CLOSURE AND THE THREADED FASTENING MEANS THEREFOR. 